Bad breakup led to extortion, say Natchitoches detectives

Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's detectives say a man upset over how a past relationship ended extorted his ex when she reached out to him in April. By the time he was arrested in late July, the woman had given him about $3,000 in cash and other items, they say.
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A Natchitoches Parish man is facing four counts of extortion in a case that began when a former girlfriend sent him some intimate photos via social media.(Photo: Gannett file photo)

NATCHITOCHES — Robert Corley never got over how a past relationship had ended, so he decided to get even when his remorseful ex got in touch again in April.

Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's detectives say he blackmailed the woman out of $3,000 in cash and items before a sting operation took him down alongside a Natchitoches Parish roadway last week.

Corley, 21, remains in the Natchitoches Parish Detention Center on four felony counts of extortion after his July 26 arrest. His bond was set at $150,000. He will have to wear a monitoring device on his ankle when he gets out of jail.

It all began after a long-term relationship of the victim's had ended. She began to feel bad about her part in how a brief relationship with Corley ended. "So she sends him a message apologizing, and that opened the door for them to start talking," said Carey Etheredge, supervisor of the sheriff office's High Tech Crime Unit.

By the time the situation was reported to detectives, it had been going on for about three months. And it wasn't even the victim who reported it.

Etheredge said the victim endured Corley taking almost every cent of her paychecks, demands for photos and threatening calls and texts from him at all hours. If she couldn't provide what Corley sought, he forced her to find another way.

And that was his undoing.

The victim had gotten a gun for Corley from a friend who didn't know exactly what was happening but knew she needed help. "She was basically in distress, and he knew it," said Etheredge.

Robert Corley(Photo: Courtesy/Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Office)

That friend happened to become a victim of an unrelated scam that he reported to the sheriff's office, and questions he asked after his case closed led detectives to dig deeper. He finally told Detective Amber Shirley what he knew was happening to his friend.

A message was sent to the victim to contact detectives, and she did.

"At that point, we determined that it was definitely extortion," said Etheredge. "It was a serious case of extortion.”

After the victim reached out to him, Corley persuaded her to send him some intimate photos — not nudes, but it was enough. Once he had those, he threatened to share them on social media for the public and her family to see if she didn't obey him.

"And, at that point, he started asking for nude photos and, eventually, he started getting them," he said. "Well, that just made it worse."

Shortly after this began, Corley got married to another woman, said Etheredge. Although he had a good job and a new wife, he told the victim that she owed him about $3,000, said Shirley, who was assigned the case.

"She got to where she was very scared because he was very demanding," said Shirley. "He was very controlling."

The detectives say that the woman's friend played a huge part in getting her help. He was giving her items because Corley had taken all of her money, they said.

Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's detectives say a woman became a victim of extortion after sending intimate photos to an ex-boyfriend. They caution against sharing private photos with anyone or, if people are set on doing it, at least to not include faces or other identifying features in them.(Photo: Gannett file photo)

"She had nothing, so he was actually giving her stuff to help, thinking it would go away," said Etheredge. "And I think he realized this is not going to stop."

Corley demanded more after the victim finished paying him the initial amount he'd demanded, he said.

The victim visited Etheredge late one day, and Shirley described her demeanor as that of a "battered dog."

"She didn't want to really open up," she said. "She didn't look at you when she talked ... she kept her head down."

Etheredge says he's worked a lot of cases where victims send photos to predators, sometimes willingly. He was struck by the look of "solid disgust" on the victim's face when he saw the first photo of her.

After their first brief meeting, the victim left. Corley contacted her that evening, seeking more money. The victim told him she didn't have any more.

The next morning, she handed her cellphone over to detectives so they could conduct a forensic examination.

"Messages started popping up from him," said Etheredge.

Detectives didn't use the phone during the examination, and Etheredge said Corley became aggravated when the victim didn't reply.

When the victim returned, she signed a consent form so that Shirley could assume her identity on her social media accounts. That allowed Shirley to interact with Corley as the victim.

"We knew, in this situation, that we had to act pretty fast on it," she said.

Corley wanted to meet, giving the victim a choice of two locations and times. The detectives picked the one that worked better for their sting operation logistics, and the plan was set in motion.

Shirley drove the victim's car to the meeting spot. A deputy was hiding in the back, a body camera on him. Not only was this a felony arrest, but officials knew Corley didn't think highly of law enforcement, she said.

A supervisor in their office had pulled him over on a traffic stop within the past year. While he didn't fight, he did curse a lot and had a "really bad attitude," she said.

They also knew he had a gun given to him by the victim.

But Corley had no criminal history, said the detectives. Although the arrest didn't go off as they'd planned, it happened without incident. Corley was surprised, but he complied.

He agreed to an interview once he was in custody. Etheredge said he asked him why he didn't stop. He said Corley told him that, if the victim was going to keep giving him money so he could "pay bills and stuff, why stop?"

In addition to being monitored as a condition of his bond, a protective order against Corley and his wife was issued for the victim.

And, as far as detectives have been able to determine, Corley didn't share photos of the victim anywhere. The investigation is continuing.